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Hugh McIlvanney: The voice of sport: Mourinho lays down his law

If the self-confidence of Jose Mourinho sometimes gives the impression that he would expect God to ask for his autograph, the new manager of Chelsea must be given credit for matching the swagger with a willingness to deny himself any vestige of an excuse for failing to be an immediate success at Stamford Bridge. Each day brings fresh proof that Mourinho is eager to embrace the consequences of making every detail and nuance of the club’s challenge for honours in the coming season a declaration of his personality and beliefs. The latest reports of an insistence on pre- training communal breakfasts and working-day curfews indicate that he wants an early-to-bed, early-to-rise regime that will keep his players healthy, wealthy and wised-up about how pervasive his authority is.

There may be a remarkable and wholesome irony in all this. Could it be that the richest organisation in football, the most glaring